116 Days of Summer Guests: Sinner Sinners

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SINNER SINNERS ABOUT RELEASING COVERS

Blending Punk-Inspired Anthems with Classic Rock Influences, SINNER SINNERS is a live band that never makes compromises. The band toured the world extensively, opening for major bands such as Eagles of Death Metal, Refused, The Sonics, Black Flag, and Nashville Pussy.

After the successful releases of four full-length albums and two EPs, SINNER SINNERS announces the release of a special EP “Hanging On”, while working on their much anticipated upcoming album.

Macy, the band’s lead guitarist explains the process and shares his tip about releasing cover songs :

We have released covers before. There were two on our last album and we’ve cut a few in between records as well. These were released both as singles and on compilation albums. We are in the process of writing and recording a new record and we thought it would be fun to drop an EP of covers in the meantime, which will be released on August 19, 2022. It includes 3 cover tracks: the Cure’s “Jumping someone else’s train”, the Supremes’ “keep me hanging on” and Eddie Floyd’s “big Bird”.

Cover songs are a great way to engage with both current and future fans. It gives fans

something that they can relate to especially if you choose well-known hits. The fun part is trying to figure out how to make the song work for your band and your current sound. However, within this process, it is important not to lose sight of the original vibe of the song when making a new arrangement.

We went back and forth before choosing our final three. Some songs just don’t work and aren’t a good fit. As musicians, we all enjoy listening to many styles of music. One common ground was the Motown and Stax recordings of the 50s and 60s.

We had a list of about 5 or 6 songs and those 3 just worked the best. I started with the Supremes track and made the arrangement on my computer and then I sent it to the group. Steve Thill (lead singer) came up with the idea to beef up “Big Bird” with a Stooges-style guitar riff. I called in my buddies Dan and Gavin to do the horns. “Train” we didn’t mess with at all, just played it true to form, and it worked great!

Releasing covers don’t differ much in terms of promotion, but it does in terms of distribution, license fees, and copyright, and you have to pay royalties, as you don’t own it.

My DO’s and DON’T about releasing a cover song :

– Don’t get tunnel vision when changing the arrangement as you can lose sight of the song. Might as well just write an original in that case.

– Covers are supposed to be fun. A way to pay homage to your influences and the music you love. A chance to sing the vocal melody over a different groove, or give a song more grit at a faster or slower tempo. A chance to put your own stamp on it.

My best advice to the other bands if they plan to release a cover song: Go for it! I’d love to hear them.